When you hear the word “rich,” or “wealth,” what comes to you mind? What do you think of? How about this, when you think of someone who is rich, what comes to mind? Is it negative? Do you feel a positive feeling or negative feeling? And with money, is it positive or negative? Did you know your feelings on money can have a drastic effect on your income based on the choices you make while having those feelings? It’s true. But let us break it down to you a little bit rather than making a simple statement without some sort of backing on this claim.

So what does any of this have to do with a “money map,” and what exactly is a “money map?” I’m going to blatantly copy T. Harv Eker’s theory here, on what he called your “Financial Blueprint.” Like a house has a blueprint in which it’s foundations lie, and you need a roadmap, (Or GPS now days.)to get anywhere, inside of you is a map of your money. What’choo talk’n ’bout Willis??? In essence, subconsciously each of us carries a truth on how we perceive money and the ability to achieve money or what we consider success. And we follow it. To a tee.

Let me explain this further. In doing so let us start with the very basics of human behavior. I did a handful of human behavior papers myself in school, and learned that the first seven years of your life are extraordinarily influential in your core beliefs and behaviors. You don’t have to look far to find articles from various Universities on child development to find that statement backed up. The core is molded by the family situation, parents, teachers, popular thoughts and ideas.

Based on that mold you then adopt “truths” in which your walk in life is formed. For the most part. Later, as you develop further, many beliefs are rebutted, enforced, or supported. Usually enforced and supported. Good or bad. They could be truths as simple as, “People like to talk to me,” or “All women lie,” and once it has been confirmed your subconscious works overtime to promote the belief structure.

On a side note, it is important to separate the idea of truth from fact. Truths are not facts. They are beliefs. Many are based around facts, but are merely perceptions of perceived facts. Confused yet? This was a hard nugget to swallow when I first discovered this. Truth and facts are different. A fact can be a math equation. The laws of gravity. You drop a pencil it falls to the floor. The fact is, it fell to the floor. The truth is your perception of how it fell as opposed to your friend who saw it fall from the other side of the same room. You both saw it fall, but you both may have seen it a bit differently. Or a lot differently depending on the circumstance. Make sense?

Again, what does this have to do with this “Money Map” idea? In T. Harv Eker’s book, “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind,” he says, “Children do not come out of the womb thinking, ‘I’m a millionaire,’ or ‘I’m poor,’ they are taught this.” You are taught your belief on income. Think about any negative statements about money growing up and if it has had an effect on how you see yourself making money.

Let me lend a few from my own life. Money doesn’t grow on trees. I can’t afford this or that. Must be nice to be rich because I’m poor. Rich people are stingy and greedy. The list goes on. There is certainly a segregation of wealth class but much has to do with what we are taught.

During my studies in human behavior we had an equation similar to the one T. Harv Eker has in this book. It goes like this. Thoughts create feeling in which, for the most part, we create actions. Those actions create our results. Within those lines are the variables of programming we’ve learned over the years. It is within that equation your money map is made. Do you feel there is never enough? Do you feel you will always struggle? Where were you taught that? And who’s truth was it? Interesting how often people project their perceived truths onto others as though it were a fact.

When I first learned this, I began to unlearn many false beliefs about money, income, and wealth in my life. My map began to change. My outdated GPS needed upgraded to new roads. Now I am constantly working with it for my desired outcomes. I can tell you testimony after testimony of people who this has worked for. Did it come easily? No. It had to be worked through. As I began to improve myself in many arenas in my life, this was one of those arenas. And like any arena you must compete in it. Or fight. Or die.

Part 2 will be in a few weeks where we talk about ways to improve your current financial situation? Will it be easy? That’s up to us as the individual. But I hope you stay tuned in. I understand money can be a very controversial topic loaded with emotions. There is reason why money is the number one cause of divorce in America today. Stay tuned and in the time in-between please check out a few books at your leisure. “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind,” by T. Harv Eker. “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace Wattles. All great insight to your money map. — William M. Jeffries

We are all about personal success here at Full 1mpact. Our job is to connect the dots to help guys in their own journey to becoming better men. We’ve often taught “your thoughts become actions,” and here to elaborate much of this, is our own Rob Miner. Mr. Rob Miner is both an author and teacher. He is also a mentor here at Full 1mpact. He is the author of the book, “And Their Eyes Were Opened.” You can find it on Amazon. We are very proud to have his input on success. — William M. Jeffries

Lessons in Personal Success

By Robert Miner

One common goal we all share is to the need to achieve success in our lives. What makes us different is the vast diversity of definitions we attach to the word.

Success is different for every person because every unique individual has his or her own personal values worth pursuing. Furthermore, each person gets something different out of the process of pursuing those goals. In fact, what we all eventually realize in the end is that the means of attaining success is greater than the ends of achieving it. Therefore, I define success as follows: the satisfaction one derives from actively moving toward something which matters to that person.

One of the greatest sources of frustration in life is the erroneous belief that what we seek will provide us sufficient fulfillment once we achieve it. Just as one apple off an apple tree will quench your hunger for a moment but not for a lifetime, so the accomplishing of a personal goal provides fulfillment for only as long as that initial energy boost satisfies. Like with the apple, your hunger will be stirred up shortly thereafter if you don’t have a tree full of apples (a lifestyle of pursuing personal success).

The first key to personal success is the understanding (and the belief) that the process of moving toward a goal is of greater value than the goal itself. I heard one NBA superstar put it this way: “The awards are great, but what really matters is the feeling of knowing how hard you’ve worked to attain that award.” The Bible says, “Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” The process of achieving personal success (or specific change in one’s life) is the fuel that fires the desire by which our heart thrives. The goal is great, but the daily battle of defeating our enemies (the obstacles which keep us from our goals) is the higher value.

The next key to personal success is the honest assessment of what matters most to us. I may want to grow in physical fitness, finances, marital happiness, inner peace, and the attainment of more friends, but what is your priority? Which goal(s) is most worth fighting for? For most of my life I’ve had lots of friends but during the last couple years those relationships have diminished as much as 30-40%. On average, my wife and I were connecting with friends 2-3 times a month. After setting a goal to meet with friends 6-8 times a month in early May, by the end of June my wife and I had met with friends on nine different occasions! I will show you how I experienced such a quick turnaround later in this article.

The third key to success is the understanding that the process is both spiritual and physical. First, we pursue by faith that which we seek. Our most important discipline is not the physical work and planning that goes into achieving success but the daily guarding of our hearts and minds – to believe even when we don’t see the results we desire. If our faith goes no further than the belief in results we see, then as soon as our results falter – which they inevitably will – we will disturb our process with the negative energy of fear, guilt, frustration, and eventually, resignation. A daily battle of faith strengthens our heart to look negative results in the eye and say, “The past is the past. We move on.”

Furthermore, when we daily pursue by faith (which may include prayer) those things we value, our mind starts to receive ideas, and by acting on those ideas we set the vehicle of change in motion. Once in motion, we may achieve change through effort, but we also achieve change through the law of serendipity. This means that a consistently positive pursuit of something will cause us to literally run into opportunities, just as someone may run into an old friend on the streets.

When I set my faith, my mind, my prayers, and my actions toward improving my social life, I initially sent emails or calls to whomever my heart felt like pursuing. Many of those people did not respond or they had plans. Some did respond, and those connections led to other connections. While having one friend over to my house, it led to the suggestion, “Why don’t we have such-and-such join us and our wives for dinner one night? That dinner ended up becoming eight adults and three children. Before long, my cousin called out of the blue to invite us for lunch. A neighbor invited me over to teach me about the Stock Market. Another neighbor saw me in front of my house and invited me to a party at his house. By month’s end, we had made plans and met with friends on nine different occasions. We sowed seed, we watered the seed, we examined the seed daily to check for growth, and we saw the seed grow to fruition.

What personal success do you seek? First decide what you value enough to pursue. Then position yourself in faith. Finally, daily pursue in mind, action, and follow-through that which you seek. Finally, throughout the whole process, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Don’t let obstacles get in your way. Don’t let what you define as failure convince you that you can’t. Don’t let the words or attitudes of others persuade you that your goal is too lofty.

Little by little one travels far. Take a step of faith today and renew that faith daily as you strive toward your goal. You’ll feel like that NBA superstar when you reach it, but more importantly, your heart will feel alive and vibrant along the way. —

Today in Full 1mpact a popular topic of ours once again resurfaced. That of the Man Myths. When talking about this topic it is often asked to define what exactly a “Man Myth” is. In short it is a belief, or series of beliefs, that attach masculinity to external objects or singular actions in general. An example would be a guy who buys a large pick-up because he believes this somehow makes him a man. Or the guy who works out to build big muscles, not because he loves body building or health and fitness, but because he believes this will somehow make him a man.

During today’s discussion the subject of money came up in regards to the myths. This is one of my personal favorite topics because of my past experience in the money business. Both with money concepts people adopt and how exactly it works. So how does this fit in to the man myths? One of the biggest ways is the concept, “Money makes the man.” and Full 1mpact’s answer to that would be in the form of a question, “What happens if it is taken away?” Often in the money industry that, or similar, phrases would be uttered and preached from the “pulpit” in the form of motivational speeches.

Does money make the man? If so, how? Many times I would see the child in a “man-suit,” preaching that if you made as much as him you would then too, be a man. This person would make millions a year, but their behavior was that of a 13 yr old spoiled adolescent. A few of the biggest boy-men I have ever met had a good element of wealth. That only meant they had the mindset for wealth, not of manhood. Or was simply misinformed. Nonetheless, as our discussion evolved, it is very evident that often money or wealth, under the guise of provision sneaks in as manhood. An easy mistake to make.

This by no means states that we do not believe in wealth or money here. Or that somehow wealth is evil. We are simply agreeing it has little, if anything, to do with actual masculinity. I am also not diminishing the inner drive of most men to provide for their families. I believe that too is important. However, the grey line is smeared from time to time in dealing with wealth. Where the truth of provision runs through the DNA of most men, it can be misinterpreted as wealth. Though wealth, like masculinity, is a mindset, it is more of an external attachment which can easily be destroyed or removed.

A truth taught here at Full 1mpact is the separation of the money mindset, and masculinity mindset. What that means is, wealth is determined by your mindset of it, rather than whether or not you developed as a man. Meaning, what T Harv Eker calls your money blueprint in his book, “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.” In this book he describes how what you believe, and are taught growing up, effect that blueprint and that blueprint then decides what your income level is. An amazing theory that, when applied, seems to ring true thus far. Another man who knew the concept well, but was WAY ahead of their time was Napoleon Hill. I recommend reading the book, “Think and Grow Rich,” to further understand the concept of wealth mindset.

Two men who I perceive as successful, wealthy, and definitely experts on money, both wrote numerous books…none of which discuss the concept of manhood with riches. And those are just two authors. There are several more who have similar themes and concepts but not once mention how having “things” or wealth could make you a man. Sadly, I was a chump, who at one time believed the hype of manhood and wealth. And in a strange, almost dream like state, my paradigm shifted violently and I saw I could not have been more wrong. Money does not make the man.

Though both the concept of manhood, and the concept of wealth, are powerful, they rarely have much to do with one another. Yes a man will provide for the ones he loves, but what that entails is usually relative. But a real man will not attach his masculinity or identity to that wealth. He will simply be a man with or without it.